Okinawa 2016 day 2 and 3

Wednesday, March 30th, 2016

by Sven

We had a perfect start into our first day of training here on Okinawa. It was the first time ever that we had the opportunity to enjoy our breakfast together at the minshuku. Allmost all of us had bacon and egg with loads of toast. It was terrific. Peter was the one who got up early in order to visit the local playground. As many of you know, Peter is a certified Tai Chi instructor. He starts his day always with a Tai Chi exercise and being on Okinawa makes no exception to this.

After finishing our breakfast we picked up our weapons and drove to Yamashiro Sensei to enjoy our first training session with him. Our first topic was Kata Shushi no Kun. With the help of Nakayama San, who is an excellent translator to us, a lot of detailed questions could be answered. Yamashiro Sensei’s student Katsuki then performed Tsuken Akachu no Ekudi (Matayoshi Sensei’s favorite kata) for us. Katsuki San performed with lot of kime and yet very elegant which impressed all of us.

Yamashiro Sensei then moved on to explain details of Kama and introduced Tekko. For Yamashiro Sensei it was very important to explain which weapon had been used by whom (in the past) or where it had been used. In order to perform a kata correctly and beautiful as well we have to consider this context. Yamashiro Sensei insisted that performing a kata is not just putting together some techniques in a certain order but the details are the important elements that matter most. Of course, the training finished way to fast!

Having finished our training session with Yamashiro Sensei we went back to Naha. There we had one more training session with Shihan Jhonny at the Budokan. Shihan Jhonny went through the program of Okinawa Kobudo and we also enjoyed a session of Chi Ryu Aiki-Jitsu. It was simply wonderful. It seems as if the training sessions here on Okinawa finish way to fast. Most of us rounded off this day with a nice dinner in Naha.

Thursday, March 31st, 2016

by Sven

Our first session today was an individual training with Shihan Jhonny at the Budokan in Naha. You can guess by now, it was over way to fast.

Some of us used the lengthy break between the training sessions to visit a nearby temple and the beach. Of course, I was stuck with my lunch. The food here on Okinawa is so delicious that I can spent hours at the restaurant trying sooooo many different things. Lucky me I am a tall person 😉

I had aji furai (アジフライ). You have to know, Okinawan (and Japanese) cooking is not only Sushi! It was delicious! Well, I’ll enjoy my day with sunny 23°. I am so much looking forward to the training session with Yamashiro Sensei this afternoon.

After lunch and before our training with Yamashiro Sensei we had a very pleasant surprise. Shihan Jhonny brought visitors to our minshuku. We were introduced to Sensei Kamura and Sensei Franco Sanguinetti from the Matayoshi Kobudo Kodokan. With an ice tea and a coke served in the adjoining Cafè we had a wonderful talk about Kobudo with both of them.

After a short visit we had to hurry to Itoman because we didn’t want to miss our training with Yamashiro Sensei. We arrived at the community hall at around 17:00 were out training took place. Katsuki San joined us in our session today. There we mainly worked on the topics of Sai and Tunkwa. At the end of our training session Katsuki San presented us the Tinbei Kata.

Of course we had loads of fun today. But see for yourself. After a long day of hard training we arrived back in Naha around 21:00 where we all went to have Ramen (ラーメン). We rounded off our day with a nice conversation at the minshuku. Sleep well!